Lot Essay
This work depicts view near Bedford Park in West London where the artist's son, Lucien, lived in the 1890s. Pissarro travelled for the fourth time to England in the spring of 1897 to be with Lucien, who had been struck by a mysterious malady which had partially paralyzed him: "Camille was at Eragny, painting the apple trees in their brief full blossom, when the message came; he hurried to England to be with Lucien, though he could do little to help him. Esther nursed her husband tenderly, feeding him, massaging his limbs day after day, wheeling him through Bedford Park in a bath-chair" (R. Shikes and P. Harper, Pissarro: His Life and Work, New York, 1980, p. 297).
A mature artist at his prime, Pissarro had been working on a series of extremely evocative views of Eragny. His visit to London provided him with an exciting, if rather unfamiliar, landscape which he handled in a very similar manner. Pissarro began working in late May and continued painting until mid-July, completing five other intimate and evocative views of Stamford Brook (Venturi nos. 1005-1009).
A mature artist at his prime, Pissarro had been working on a series of extremely evocative views of Eragny. His visit to London provided him with an exciting, if rather unfamiliar, landscape which he handled in a very similar manner. Pissarro began working in late May and continued painting until mid-July, completing five other intimate and evocative views of Stamford Brook (Venturi nos. 1005-1009).